One goal of conference organizers was to reflect on God, academically, relationally, prayerfully, actively and also contemplatively, from the multitude of contexts from which participants came. The theme, All You Need Is Love, both playfully acknowledges the way love is brought to the forefront by Valentine’s Day, and wrestles with the complexity of love as an element of Christian faith. February was also Black History Month, and one of the primary commitments of the conference was to work at undoing racism and advancing intercultural transformation.

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March is Women’s History Month. Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28 which requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week.” In 1987 after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, Congress passed Pub. L. 100-9 which designated the month of March 1987 as “Women’s History Month.” Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women’s History Month. Since 1995, Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as “Women’s History Month.”